Process

Phase I

Production of substrate is carried out in specific area of the farm called the compost yard. Phase I involves the preparation and mixing of raw materials to produce a substrate. Our mushroom farms have developed unique formulations for the mushroom substrate, the material in which the mycelia grows. This commonly called ‘phase I compost’. Substrate is the growing medium that provides the nutrients needed for mushrooms to grow. Mushroom composting is designed to change the nutrients found in the initial ingredients into forms that are available to and selective for mushrooms. There must be correct moisture, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbohydrates present throughout the process or the nutrients will be inadequate to support the future mushroom crop.

Phase II

After the Phase I is ready, it is filled into bulk pasteurization tunnel. Phase II continues the conversion of nutrients into a selective food supply for the mushroom. The air into this tunnel and the temperature of the tunnels are monitored using a centralized computer. The compost is maintained for several hours to remove the pathogen loads like flies, insects, nematodes, competing fungi, or other pests. We condition the gaseous ammonia into microbial biomass to be used as food by the mushroom. 

Phase III - (Spawning, Casing & Pinning) 

Once the Phase II is completed the compost is spawned and filled into growing room shelves. Spawning is the mushroom culture equivalent of planting seeds for a field crop. Mushrooms are “planted” using fungal mycelia rather than seeds. Proper humidity and temperature are maintained in the rooms. Once a whitish growth is covered on the surface of the compost shelves.

Casing is a top-dressing applied to the spawn-run compost and is necessary for mushrooms to grow from the mycelia, which have grown throughout the compost. Casing soil provides moisture for maturing mushrooms. When the appropriate casing growth is seen, fresh air is introduced into the room and the temperatures are reduced to induce mushroom formation.

Pins are the first emerging primordial fruit bodies of the mushroom fungus. These fruiting bodies continue to grow larger through a button stage, and ultimately enlarge into a mushroom.

Harvesting

Pins mature into mushrooms.  Mushroom crops grow in what are known as “flushes”. They are harvested in 7 –10 days cycle.  This depends on number of factors including: temperature; humidity; strain and the stage when they are picked. Mushrooms are harvested by the hand. Mushrooms are removed from the beds with a twisting motion. The stalk is then trimmed. They are graded and kept directly into the packet for the fresh market sales.